Brooder



Jan. 18, 1938. w. A. BENZING ET AL 2,105,779

BROODER Filed Feb. 2, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 William A. Benzing Mary La Visa Bcnzins V I k Jan. 18, 1938. w. A. BENZING ET AL 2,105,779

BROODER Filed Feb. 2, 1955 ,5 Sheets-Sheet 2 William A. Benzing Mary La Visa Benz'mg Patented Jan. 18, I938 UNHTED STATES BROODER William A. Benzing and MaryLa Visa Benzing, Lincoln, Nebr.

Application February 2, 1935, Serial No. 4,602

5 Claims- Our invention relates to brooders and more particularly. to breeders. of the type which are used outdoor and in all kindso-f weather for raising chicks and young of other poultry.

One of our objects is the provision of a brooder in which the solutions of the ventilating and heating problems are almost entirely disassociated.

Another of our objects is the provision of a brooder chamber which is surrounded by a heating,- chamber, the two being hermetically sealed from each other so that the gases of combustion cannot pass from the heating chamber into the brooder chamber.

Another of our objects is the provision of a novel form of ventilating device whereby fresh air is introduced into the bottom of the brooder chamber and allowed to diffuse gently throughout the brooder chamber, this being combined with both manual and automatic controlsfor discharging the excess of heated air.

Another of our objects is the provision of openings to the brooder chamber which may be closed by means of insulated doors or which may be closed by the interchangeable use of sheets of wire screen or sheets of a material which transmits the ultraviolet rays of light.

Another of our objects is the provision of a door leading to the brooder chamber and so arranged as to affect the least interruption of the surrounding heating chamber, the opening being so arranged as to give access to both the dropping board and the screened floor of the brooder. and also so arranged as to permit the exit and entrance of the chicks when the weather permits.

Another of our objects is the provision of a.

hinge of novel form for especial use in anoutdoor brooder to prevent the entrance of rain past the hinge.

Having in view these objects and others which will be pointed out in the following description, we will now refer to the drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view in perspective showing one side and the rear end of our brooder.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the fragment of the brooder showing the front and a portion. of a side, the top cover being removed to disclose.

a position of the screen.

Figure 3 is a median longitudinal vertical section through the brooder representing a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 4.

Figure 4 is a median transverse vertical section of the brooder, the section being taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5' is a sectional view' hrOl h one of the, side wallsof the brooder, the section being taken on theline 55 of Figure 3.

Figure. 6 represents a section through one of the sidewalls of the brooder onthe line l6 of Figure 3. T

Figure 7 is a sectional view through .a portion of the front wall of the brooder on the line 7-1 of Figure 3.

FigureB is. a view partly in section of a detail shown in. Figure 3 and showing the adjustable.

thermostat and its relation to the valve in somewhat enlarged scale. 7

Figure 9 is a detail drawn to an enlarged scale and showing the structure of the varioushinges used for the outside closures of the brooder.

Figure 10 is a view in of the valves for automatically controlling, irreg} ular wind pressures which would otherwise afiect the ventilation of the brooder.

Figure 11 is a broken sectional'view showing both ofthe valves and their operating mecha nism for. automatically closing. either port and plane of the section being.

with closures, some of these closures having hollow walls and being similarly filled with insulating material of the kind which is used throughout. These closures areso arranged that when they are in the closed positions the insulated Walls will be substantially continuous;

Inside the insulated walls is a heating chamber l0 which is underneath the major -pcrtion or" the brooder chamber and which extends across thefront, back and sides of the brooder. Any suitable heating elementsuch as, one, or more lamps I I may be employed for heating thebrooder. When a lamp or the like is. employed necessary to provide fresh air forthe combustion of the fuel. 7 This is obtained through the door [2.

which is of hollow Wall construction, both walls being provided with inlet apertures l3 which are,

staggered in the two walls-so as to preventsudden gusts of air ,from'reaching the lamp "l l.

perspective showing one it is.

'The. air is thusheated'andlthisheated air comes-in" contact withsub'stantiallygthe entire bottom wall '59 2 of the brooder chamber and it is conducted upwardly along the side and end walls to apply an even heat to the brooder chamber except at the top. The gases of combustion are carried out through ports i4 thus insuring a flow of heated air through the heating chamber. Because of the fluctuations in the outside temperature and because of irregular wind disturbances the ports l4 are provided with closures 15 which may be adjusted manually to the atmospheric conditions. The ports I4 are further protected from gusts of wind by means of the shields l6 which are open only at the top and bottom so as to break the force of any gusts of wind. The iioor of the brooder chamber is heated throughout except at its forward end portion IQ of the part I! of the brooder chamber. The warm air flows to the sides of the chamber l1 and upwardly through vertical channels as shown in Figure 7 so that all parts of the brooder chamber are heated.

The bottom of the brooder chamber proper consists of two parts l8 and 19 connected by a vertical wall 20. The numeral 2| designates the front wall of the brooder chamber while the rear wall is shown at 22. The side walls are indicated by the numeral 23. These walls are of sheet metal construction and they permit the ready conduction of the heat from the heating chamber to the inside of the brooder chamber. It is exceedingly important, however, that the brooder chamber be hermetically sealed from the heating chamber so as to prevent the gases of combustion from passing from the heating chamber into the brooder chamber. All joints must therefore be sealed as by soldering o1 welding or otherwise to prevent any passage of gas or air from one chamber into the other.

Inside the brooder chamber there is a reticulated floor 24 and a dropping board 25 underneath the floor 24. Secured to the bottom'lB is a plurality of cleats 25 projecting upwardly from the bottom I!) to serve as a support for the dropping board 25. The cleats 26 are arranged longitudinally to provide a track for sliding the dropping board 25.

The cleats 21 are secured transversely of the brooder and to the side walls 23 and they serve as supports for the reticulated floor 24. Referring now to Figure 3 it will be seen that the dropping board 25 is made up of a plurality of hingedly connected sections which in the present instance are formed of sheet metal. It will also be noticed that the reticulated floor 24 is made up of a plurality of hingedly connected rectangular frames to which the screen metal issecured. The reticulated floor 24 rests on the cleats 21 except at its forward extremity which is provided with a hook 28 for engaging a projection on the wall 2|. The dropping board rests on the cleats 26 except at its forward extremity. The door 29 is hingedly connected at 30 to the front vertical wall of the brooder. This door is provided with one or more brackets 3| which engage the underside of the forward end of the dropping board 25 to clamp the dropping board against the bottom of the side wall section shown in Figure 3. The opening of the door 29 will release the forward section of the dropping board 25 which is thus allowed to fall -until it comes into contact with a pair of cleats 32 secured to the two side walls of the brooder chamber.

The construction just described provides access to both the dropping board 25 and the reticulated floor 24 and it also permits release of the chicks whenever the weather is favorable. If the door 29 is opened the forward section of the dropping board 25 will fall so that a scraping tool may be employed for drawing all of the droppings forwardly and thus cleaning the dropping board. When it is desired to release the chicks the door 29 is first opened to allow the forward section of the dropping board 25 to fall and the latch 28 is then released to allow the forward section of the floor 24 to fall against the forward section of the dropping board 25. The brooder chamber will then be open at its forward end to permit the chicks to walk over the forward section of the floor 24 on their way into and out of the brooder.

The arrangement also facilitates the cleaning and disinfecting of the dropping board 25 and floor 24 before the brooder is again used. When the door 29 is in its open position the dropping board 25 is released from all clamping engagefrom the brooder. In the same manner the release of the latch 28 will release the floor 24 which may be also withdrawn in its entirety from the brooder after the dropping board 25 has been withdrawn. Both the dropping board and the the solution of the heating problem which in our brooder is ahnost entirely independent of the problem of ventilation. In this respect our brooder differs very materially from most of the prior brooders in which the heating and ventilating problems are associated. The ventilating problem is even more important in many respects than the heating problem and along with the ventilating problem is the problem of supplying the chicks with light of the proper char actor in sufiicient quantities to promote health and sturdy growth.

The brooder is provided with one or more ports 33 which are covered with wire cloth or the like to prevent the entrance of vermin. Slides 34 cover the ports 33 so that the ports may be entirely closed or opened to admit the desired quantity of fresh air. These ports 33 lead directly to conduits 35 for conveying the fresh air through the bottom I8 directly into the brooder chamber whence it flows upwardly around the edges of the dropping board 25 and through the floor 24 to reach the chicks without draft or air disturbances of any kind. For discharging the excess of heated air we provide a conduit 36 which has openings on both sides of the brooder in the extreme upper portion thereof as shown in Figure 4. These openings to the conduit 36 are shielded by means of shields 37 as shown in Figures 1 and l. Regardless of the atmospheric air disturbances encountered in an outdoor brooder, the flow of air through the conduit 35 will be quiet and steady. The conduit opens into the brooder chamber through an open bottom as shown in Figures 3 and 8. The thermostatically controlled valve 33 regulates the flow of air from the brooder chamber through the conduit 36 to the outside air. The thermostat and the valve actuating mechanism includes a wafer 39 having a threaded stem 40 projecting through the valve 38 and a nut 4! between the wafer 39 and the valve 38. The expansion of the wafer 39 will cause the nut 4| or its nose to contact with the under surface of the valve 38 so that further expansion of the wafer will lift the valve 38 from its Figure 8 position to its Figure 3 posiment so that it may be withdrawn as a whole mits ultraviolet rays.

tion and thus discharge the excess of heatedair. By these means a, very steady flow of fresh air into the bottom of the brooder chamber is provided and provision is also made for the automatic discharge of the excess of heated air to the outside atmosphere without creating any air disturbances within the brooder chamber.

The ventilating problem of an outdoor brooder is particularly difiicult because of the extreme fluctuations in the intensity and directions of the wind. For this reason we provide one or more ports 42 on each side of the wall of the brooder leading directly from the brooder chamber to the outside air. These ports are also provided with closures d3 so that the opening of the ports may be adjusted in size.

The brooder has also a transverse opening at its front upper corner, the opening being covered by a piece 44 of wire cloth or screen which is of sufficiently'fine mesh to prevent the entrance of vermin. This opening is also closed by means of a door 45 which is hingedly connected at 46 to the frame of the brooder. This door includes a frame and sheet 310f a material which trans- Such material in its more common forms is made of a wire screen embedded in a resinous composition which is transparent to ultraviolet rays. Other materials are also suitable for the purpose such as paraffin impregnated cloth fabric and even some glass compositions. The important thing is a sheet of material l'l which is air tight and which transmits the ultraviolet rays. During mild weather this door may open the brooder chamber tothe outside air.

Two hinged covers :88 and 49 are provided, these being hinged at 5B and 59, respectively. Both of these covers are insulated in the manner of the insulation of the side walls and top of the brooder. The cover 38 has a recess 52 for seating down against the front upper rail 53v of the brooder frame. The cover 38 may be opened into the position shown in Figure 3 or it may be closed against the rail 53. In its closed position it may clamp the door 45 in closed position or it may leave the door 45 in the open position shown in Figure 3. The cover 49 is similarly provided with a recess 54 for seating down against the upper edge of the rear wall. In the case of both doors when closed the insulation is practically continuous with the insulation of the end walls.

Underneath the top are cleats 55 secured to the side walls of the brooder and spaced from the top. The cleats 5% are downwardly and outwardly inclined from the ends of the cleats 55. These cleats serve to support sheets 57. These sheets 5? may be formed from air tight material which transmits ultraviolet rays or they may be formed of screen wire or cloth; All of the sheets 57 have the same rectangular dimensions but the use of our brooder contemplates the interchangeable use of sheets of diiferent materials depending largely on the season in which the brooder is being used. As a matter of fact it is frequently desirable that one of these sheets 51 be air tight while the other affords an opening to the outside air. These sheets rest at their edges on the cleats 56 but they are slidable thereon and over the cleats 55 so that the sheets which are not being used may be temporarily stored in the most convenient position on the cleats 55 and underneath the top of the brooder.

The above described structure functions perfectly in all kinds of weather except when the wind is gusty and subject to rapid changes in direction; To :avoid the disturbances on the valve '38 we providea pair of automatically operable valves 60 at the mouths ofthe channel 36. As shown in Figure 10; the upper edge 6! of the valve 60 is rolled on a rod which functions as a. pivot. The valve 60 is delicately overbalanced by means of the weight 62 so that it will normally be inclined to the vertical.

The valves 60 are pivotally secured at the mouths of the channel 36 as shown in Figure 11. The shields 37 are provided with openings 93 in alignment with the channel 36. The normal po sition of the valves 69 is that shown in Figure 11 but in windy weather the valves at will flap to open and close the mouths of the channel 36. In order to insure that both valves will not be closed at the same time, we place a rod 54 loosely in the channel 36, this rod having a length but slightly greater than that of the channel 35 so that when either valve is fiapped into closing position it will forcibly shift the rod 64 in the lengthwise direction against the other valve. The rod 64 does not interfere with the operation of the valve 38 as it is seated out of contact with that valve as shown in Figure 8.

Particular attention should be called tothe structure of the hinges 38, as, 5i and 58 which are especially designed for use in an outdoor brooder made of sheet metal. As shown in Figure 9 these hinges are produced by rolling v the edges of thesheet metal into the cross sectional form of concentric logaritlnnic spirals. They are all turned in such a way that water will flow away from the hinge without entering the brooder. The very slight binding action of the two parts is compensated by the resilience of the sheet metal from which the hinges are formed. We thus provide friction hinges which maintain the doors in either open or closed position and which prevent all access of water to the brooder.

Having thus described our invention in such full, clear, and exact terms that its construction and operation will be readily understood by others skilled in the art to which it pertains, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A brooder having a heating chamber enclosing a brooder chamber at the bottom and sides and ends thereof, the front portion of said brooder chamber extending downwardly through said heating chamber, a reticulated floor and a dropping board within said brooder chamber, said floor and said dropping board each consisting of a plurality of hingedly connected sections whereby the forward sections of said floor and said dropping board may be inclined in a downward and forward direction toprovide a ramp for the chicks, said brooder being provided with an opening in the lower portion of the front wall of the brooder.

2. A brooder including a warm air chamber surrounding a brooder chamber at the bottom and sides and ends thereof, a reticulated floor and a dropping board within said brooder chamber, means for admitting air to said brooder chamber underneath said dropping board whereby the air will flow upwardly past the edges of said dropping board, the opposite side walls of said brooder being provided with exit ports for the discharge of air from said brooder chamber, shields secured to said brooder to cover the exit ports but in spaced relation therewith, a conduit positioned transversely of said brooder chamber and connecting the two exit ports thereof, and. a thermostatically controlled automatic valve for the discharge of air from the said brooder chamber through said conduit and past said shields.

3. A brooder including a brooder chamber surrounded by a heating chamber, said brooder chamber having a portion extending downwardly at one end of said brooder, a dropping board positioned above the bottom of said brooder chamber and projecting horizontally over the downwardly extending portion of said brooder chamber, a reticulated floor above said dropping board, said dropping board and said floor each consisting of a plurality of hingedly connected sections, said downwardly extending portion of said brooder chamber being provided with an opening, a hinged door for the opening, a clamp between said door and the wall of the brooder for clamping said dropping board at one of its edges whereby the opening of said door will release the end section of said dropping board to fall into an inclined position toward the opening of said brooder, and manually operable means for releasing an end section of said floor to fall into position immediately above the inclined section of said dropping board to provide a ramp for the ingress and egress of the chicks.

4. A brooder having a heating chamber surrounding a brooder chamber, said brooder chamber having a portion extending downwardly at one extremity of said brooder, a dropping board in the lower portion of said brooder chamber and extending horizontally over said downwardly extending portion of said brooder chamber, said dropping board consisting of a plurality of hingedly connected sections, the downwardly ex tending portion of said brooder chamber being provided with an opening for the ingress and egress of the chicks, a hinged door for the opening, and a clamp for engaging the free edge of one of the sections of said dropping board between said door and the wall of said brooder whereby the opening of said door will release the end section of said dropping board to assume an inclined position to provide access for a scraping tool to all parts of said dropping board.

5. A brooder having a bottom and end and side walls and having a fixed horizontal top covering the middle portion of said brooder, a pair of closures hingedly connected to said horizontal top and extending downwardly and endwardly when in closing position, said closures when in open position giving access to the brooder chamber of said brooder, a pair of horizontal cleats secured to the side walls of said brooder in parallel and spaced relation to said fixed top, downwardly and endwardly inclined pairs of cleats secured to the side walls of said brooder underneath said closures, each of said pairs of cleats being adapted to interchangeably support sheets of screen wire or water-impervious transparent material, the space immediately underneath said fixed top cover being adapted to function as a storage compartment for the sheets which are not being used.

WILLIAM A. BENZING.

MARY LA VISA BENZING. 

